The olives are very small and with low yields in the areas where the harvest has just begun, but there is still not enough data to sum up a year that is not easy for olive oil in 2023 but which seems to be recovering in recent weeks. Ismea, starting from an initial estimate of the harvest made according to a survey carried out in collaboration with Unaprol and Italia Olivicola, estimates a recovery in some key regions with production up 20% compared to last year.
However, these numbers are below expectations, and may not even reach the average levels of the previous four campaigns. The first figures, in fact, stand at 290 thousand tons (+20%) which still represents the average value of a range between 280 thousand tons and 300 thousand tons.
Blame the weather, Ismea says, with a dry winter partially offset by spring rains, which, however, were too concentrated, causing damage to flowers and difficulties in fruit set in many areas. The summer was also not favorable, with the scorching heat that in non-irrigated areas caused stress to the olive trees. Going into detail, a drop of more than 30% is estimated in the northern areas; the situation is similar in Central Italy, while in the South and Islands an increase of 34% is estimated thanks to the good performance expected for Puglia and Calabria, which represent respectively 50% and 13% of national production. In Puglia, for example, an increase of more than 50% is estimated compared to last year.
To make the production estimates even more complex are the high prices of oil that could induce, in fact, many producers to divert table olives to the mills; The price lists, however, could reduce the phenomenon of non-harvesting where the volumes of olives are such as to justify the costs of harvesting.
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